View full size(Press-Register/John David Mercer)Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine surrenders himself outside the Baldwin County Jail Monday night May 24, 2010 in Bay Minette, Ala. Attempts to contact Nodine's lawyers Tuesday were not successful.

On Monday, a Baldwin County grand jury indicted Nodine on a murder charge in Downs' May 9 death outside her Gulf Shores home. Downs, 45, a real estate professional, had been romantically involved with the commissioner, who is married.

Nodine surrendered to Baldwin County authorities Monday evening. As of Tuesday afternoon, jail records indicated he remained jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Mack made his statements Tuesday morning to the Press-Register's editorial board. The sheriff, who is seeking the newspaper's endorsement in his bid for re-election, discussed a number of topics, including the murder case against Nodine. Mack is challenged by Orlando Bethel, a Loxley preacher.

As Nodine walked toward the Baldwin County Corrections Center on Monday, hours after the indictment, a Baldwin County sheriff's deputy handcuffed the commissioner in front of media cameras.

Mack said the deputy followed standard procedure for cases in which a suspect accused in a murder involving a gun is known to have possessed guns at some time.

"We did not know that he was coming to turn himself in," Mack said. "We were actively looking for him in Mobile County at the time."

Prior to the arrest, a vehicle carrying Nodine was spotted in Bay Minette riding around and circling the jail. A deputy had been following the vehicle around the Baldwin County Courthouse, according to Mack.

"It wasn't a hot pursuit situation, but he was trying to get to the vehicle," he said.

View full size(File)"I don't know that I've ever had a case before where you literally had three legal situations going on," Baldwin County Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack said. "You've got a murder case in Baldwin County. You've got a simple drug possession case in Mobile County. Now factor in a civil proceeding of impeachment."Mack said he believes the commissioner may have been trying to avoid the media.

Nodine has been segregated from the rest of the jail population -- standard procedure for all highly publicized cases, Mack said. "We typically segregate them for the first period of time."

If Nodine remains jailed for an extended period of time, he will eventually be placed in the general population, Mack said.

Mack called the case one of the most challenging investigations that his office has handled. As many as 15 investigators from the Sheriff's Office, District Attorney's Office, Gulf Shores police and other agencies have been involved in the case.

"There were questions that weren't being answered by the crime scene or the available facts coming in," Mack said. "By Monday afternoon to Tuesday, (following the slaying) within that 48-hour window, it was taking on what I call the formal representation of it being a homicide."

The sheriff pointed out the difference between homicide -- a death at the hands of another person -- and murder, an intentional killing.

"At the end of that 48-hour window, most of the investigators were feeling pretty confident that this was death at the hands of another. Then it became 'What kind of death at the hands of another?' And so you continue to investigate at that point and try to determine as best you could what happened," he said.

Many questioned why it took so long to bring charges against the commissioner, the sheriff said.

"You've got to have your facts straight. So that's what we were trying to do," Mack said. "Our goal was not to get it done as quickly as we could, but to get it done as efficiently as we could."

"I don't know that I've ever had a case before where you literally had three legal situations going on. You've got a murder case in Baldwin County. You've got a simple drug possession case in Mobile County. Now factor in a civil proceeding of impeachment. And all three will share some -- not all -- but some of the same evidence. The evidence kind of melts into each case," he said.

View full size(Press-Register file/Mary Hattler)"The right thing is for him to do what's best for his constituents," said Mobile County Commissioner Mike Dean (seen here in 2008). "He needs to step down."On Tuesday, Dean said his fellow commissioner, Nodine, should "do the right thing" and resign from office.

"The right thing is for him to do what's best for his constituents," Dean said. "He needs to step down."

Nodine has held the District 2 seat on the commission since 2004.

Dean made his comments as he walked into a Mobile County courthouse office to be deposed by Nodine's attorneys in the impeachment case.

Mobile County Circuit Judge Joseph Johnston and county attorneys Mark Erwin and Jay Ross are scheduled to be deposed today, according to court records.

Nodine's impeachment trial is slated for June 8.

Dean, who has known Nodine for 17 years, said he didn't know what he would be asked in the closed deposition.

Dean said he wants to review how commissioners spend money and "the whole county business."

Tony Moore, a downtown Mobile restaurant owner and friend of Nodine's, told a WPMI NBC 15 reporter that Nodine had been staying with Moore before being booked into the Baldwin County Corrections Center on Monday.